A plurality of pixel formation portions are formed in a matrix form in a display portion of an active matrix-type liquid crystal display device. Each pixel formation portion is provided with a thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as the “TFT”) that operates as a switching element, and a pixel capacitance connected to a data signal line via the TFT. By turning on and off this TFT, a data signal for displaying an image is written as a data voltage into the pixel capacitance in the pixel formation portion. This data voltage is applied to a liquid crystal layer of the pixel formation portion to change an orientation direction of liquid crystal molecules in accordance with a voltage value of the data signal. In this manner, the liquid crystal display device controls a light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer in each pixel formation portion to display an image on the display portion.
Such a liquid crystal display device has conventionally been required to reduce its power consumption in the case of being used in mobile electronic equipment or the like. There has thus been proposed a display device driving method of setting a scanning period in which gate lines as scanning signal lines of the liquid crystal display device are scanned to refresh a display image (such a scanning period will also be referred to as the “refresh period”), and thereafter setting a pause period in which all gate lines are brought into a non-scanning state to pause the refresh (such a pause period will also be referred to as “non-refresh period”) (e.g., see Patent Document 1). During this pause period, for example, a signal for control can be prevented from being provided to a gate driver as a scanning signal line drive circuit and/or a source driver as a data signal line drive circuit. Since operations of the gate driver and/or the source driver can thus be paused, power consumption can be reduced. The drive such as the one disclosed in Patent Document 1, or the drive which is performed by setting the pause period after the refresh period, is called “pause drive”, for example. In addition, such pause drive is also referred to as “low-frequency drive” or “intermittent drive”. Such pause drive is suitable for still image display.